Building wall



April 7, 1925.

BUILDING WALL- A. RUMPLER Filed Oct. 25, 1924 Patented Api. 7, 1925.

UNITED "STATES ANDREW BUMP-LEB, OF CU'BAHY, WISCONSIN.

BUILDING WALL.

Applicationv led October 23 192,4. Serial, No. 745,331.

To all whom t may concern: y

`Be it known that I, ANDREW RUMPLER, a citizen off the United States, residing .at Cudahy, county of Milwaukee, and State of lVisconsin, have invented new and use-ful Improvements in Building IZValls,l of which the following a specification. My invention relates to improvements .in building Walls. e The object of my invention is to provide means for constructing inexpensiveand durable heat retaining` walls for buildings..

More particularly stated, it is my object to lprovide means forutilizing natural soils, such as are to be found in most localities., for forming anenclosed solid block of earth between protecting Walls which prevent disin tegration and co-operate with said'blockin forming dead air spacesr which, with said block, constitute high efficiency heat insulators. Also to provide means whereby tem?- poi'ary Walls and portions of the permanent walls which. enclose said block may be made to reenforce each other and to support` the block initially While moisture is still present therein.

In thedraivings:

Figure l is a fragmentary' view, in perspeetive, kof my improved wall, showing the same in process of erection.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of thesaine. y i

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-,-3 of Figure 2, showing a modification.

Like parts are identified by tlie'same reference characters throughout the several views. i

The foundation l may be of anyordinary construction. vIt is illustrated 'as a concrete Wall. A flat wooden slab or plank 2 is placed horizontally on topy of the foundation l and pairs of studs and 4 are-placed in an upright position on each side of the plank 2, preferably with their flat or Wider faces parallel to each other and toy the planes of the edge margins of said plank 2;,y These studs l and 4 are connected atintervals by bolts 6 which passvtliiroiigh spacing sleeves T. The length of each spacingsleeve is substantially equal to the Width of the plank 2. The ends of the floor joists.,9preferabl y rest on the planks 2 and, if desired, the ends of these joists may be niortised to receive the planks as Shown in Figure l.

rI`he studs 3 and 4 form a frame to Which sheeting boards l0 are applied and temporarily secured to the associatedl studs, either by nails 1lx or any other suitable means, thereby forming a mold of suitable .depth tor receive. lthe first illingcourse, for laye-i" of filling material now to." be described.l kTo form this. layer the space betweenl thesheet ing boards and studsv is lilled. with a massv of earth 18, sufficiently moist to allow'itto v be tam-pecl4 or compressedin saidfspace. .Clay

containing*considerable humus, suchas is usually found -in surface soils, ismost,suit-` ablefor my purpose. It will be understood, however, that'the earth` or learthy material selected for ,this purpose' mustlcontain clay humus or other material of such character as to constitute a binder for the mass to prevent the resulting lille'r block from crumbling or falling away, `when dry,` as vwould be l the case fv vith sand unsupportedby a binder. I have found that I can most conveniently erect a Wallby following the methody hereinafter described. I first set my forms upon the studdi-ng land above the foundation `ivall or sillf.- I then take dirt' from the excavation andllthe space between the. forms. It is,v

difficult, however, to tampv vye'tf` earth, since the soil adheres to the tamping tool, e Accor-dingly,l when thevforiii isalmostffilled with Wet earth I place a layer. of a,v feu( inchesof dry earth thereon anditamp upon the dry earth to solidify the entire mass. rlhe dry earth will take much moisture from the Wet earth beneath it, but it in turn; is treated With- Water in order t0 ensure that it may be coinpactedinto asolid mass., The earth need not be perfectly dry in orderto be selfsustaining, and, consequently, it is possible to lay course upon course with each- Isuccessive layer of Wet earth vplaced above a similar layer Whicliis still Wet. In this Way a perfect bonding of the layers is eni sured and the-entire mass of -materialin any given Wall spacecomprises a solid mass.' In order to. maintain the studs properly positioned during the taluping operation., I have found it-expedieut to brace them by n'ieaus of the diagonal strips illustrated in Figure 1, so thateach oppositely d'ijposed' lpail istuds conipri-ses` in effect a girder, the c brace being `eifnbedded ini the iill'ing material, l

As the material dries, it shrinks avvay course of earth on top of the first course,`

laid as above desci'ibed.` As soon as the sheeting boards have been removed from their original positions, inner and outer fa'cing walls are substituted.. In the drawings, the iiinerwall is formed by first applying vlath to the studs and then applying one or more coats of plaster `16 thereto in the ordinary manner. The outer wall may be similarly formed, with stucco substituted for theplasten but it will of course `be understood thatthe outer wall may be composed of any suitable material, i."e;, wood, stucco,

brick, orlany other material suitablefor constructing outer facing surfaces.

The operation is then repeatedto form the'neXt course in the wall of the building, strips or bars 20 being employed as 'fillers to prevent vtheinoist earth forming the second coursefrom being pressed downwardly between the sheeting boards 10 and the contracted slab or block of dry earth filling previously formed'. These filler strips or lbars 20 may, iiff desired, be left in position or they dow'and'door openings will be provided in may be attached to the lower sheeting board 1Q and removed with it.l v

It will of course be understood lthatwinany Well known manner lfamiliar' to builders skilled in the art to which lthis' invention pertains. When the wall is completed, there will be an outer'layer ofvstucco orvother weatherproof facing material.,l This vwill be i 'i i' supportedy by lath or by any otherpdesired means, dependent of courseon whether stuc co,'brick, or other material isiised for ythe exterior facing wall. Between'this wall andthe earth block or filler there will be an airspace, formedby the lshrinking of the earth block whendrying.

The earth block orfiller must be of sufficient' thickness to be substantially self sustaining, yalthough it will of course receive some supportfrom the cross bolts and spacer bars which connect the studs. When dry, this filler is a much better heat insulator than any solid brick or concrete wall would be if similarly placed. y1t will be unaffected by frost, and will retain its shape permanently if kept ina dry condition. On the inner side, 'another air space will be inter-y posed between'the earthiiller Ablock and the latli and plaster facing, or any other suitable facing which constitutes the interior face of the wall.

It will Ybe of course beunderst'ood that the planking 2 is of less width, than the foundation 1', whereby the studs 'may resti-dh rectly upon the foundation. -This planking is not an, essential` feature of my invention but itis desirable for the reason that it serves as a spacer forv the lower ends o-f the studs and as a supportpwliereby.the ends of the joists are supported out of contact with the foundation. i

Where my improvedv wall is to be used as a part ofa stable, a covering 21 ofsheet metal may be applied to the studs and over the top yof the wall, thereby not only ex- `l having connections with eachother extendwhich it v ing through said filler block, said inner and 'l outer walls being spaced fromv the filler block at a distance therefrom substantially equal to the difference in the thickness of the'fillei' block when dry and its thickness when sufliciently wet to be tamped. f f- 2.4 A building wall comprising inner and outer frame members connected with each other in spaced relation, inner and youter wall members secured to the frame. members, and an intermediate vsolid block of self sustaining adherent dry earth spaced from theinner and outer lwall members and fromthe frame members at a distance substantially equal tothe shrinkage of the filler block when changing from a moist to a dry condition. A building wall having a frame comvposed of l,inner and outer studs, spacing de- .vices between 'saidfstuds, bolts connecting the inner and'outer studs in pairs, facing walls applied to the inner and outer studs respectively, and a filler block of earth` interposed between said facing walls andsp'aced therefrom and from the studs. i

4. A building wall having inner and outer facings in combination witha solid block of molded and adherent dry earth interposed vbetween the facings with air spaces .between it and said facings, said filler block being composed of 'earth containing av binder adapted, Awhen .the block is dry, to `prevent disintegration, and said block being of suflicient thickness vto be self sustaining.l

'5. A building wall having a frame coin.-

posed offinner and outer studs, spacing de-:V vices between saidI studs, bOltscOnneCtmg the 'inner and outer studs in pairs, facing walls applied tothe inner and out-er studs respectively, a sheet metal liner for one ofv the walls, and a filler block of earth inter; posed between said facing walls and spacer therefrom andfrom thestuds.. i ANDREW RUMPLER- 

